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I think it's the bat to ball skills that will keep his obp down. I think Vlad has a lot more strike zone aggression and will put way more balls in play than Votto, which will keep his OBP down (and by down I mean... something like .380ish). I don't envision Vlad walking upwards of 16% of the time long term.

Perhaps, or he may like Votto wear the pitcher down, and either hit the ball hard into play or get a walk, with a K rate below 10% (Votto is 16.2% K rate for his career). That would mean a Vlad OBP well over .400

Perhaps, or he may like Votto wear the pitcher down, and either hit the ball hard into play or get a walk, with a K rate below 10% (Votto is 16.2% K rate for his career). That would mean a Vlad OBP well over .400

I think Walker is especially hurt by the fact that it was Colorado. Dumb voters aren't giving him enough credit for his offense because they're over-correcting for Coors.

Larry put up a .906 OPS in his last 144 games in his age 37 and age 38 years playing in St. Louis. He played through a herniated disk in his neck in his last season which covered a 100 games in St. Louis and he still put up those numbers. At an age where his skills should have deteriorated significantly from his peak, he put up hall of fame offensive numbers. He did so being able to only turn his head to one side. It's beyond ridiculous the guy isn't in the hall. I think he gets in via the veterans committee though.

12:10
Kiley McDaniel: Talked to a guy that saw him recently and he thinks he’s a solid piece, but it’s fringy at 2B, more corner utility fit and is lifting the ball now so there’s more offensive upside but hard to see as everyday. I can already feel Jays fans being mad that I’m saying this but hey you found a real prospect outside the top few rounds so feel good

Mike: How much longer realistically can the Jay’s keep Vlad Jr. In the minors and do you think they skip him over AAA. Also any concerns about Bo Bichette’s evaporation of slugging at A+ and now AA+, has his bat wrap been exploited by better pitching.

12:12
Kiley McDaniel: From what I can gather, the Jays (and everyone with eyes) can see there isn’t much to gain from staying in AAA, but they want to motivate him to try harder at 3B, where he can be something approaching average in the short term, but he’s never really seemed to care that much about defense, for some obvious reasons. This is why we projected him to 1B just because this doesn’t feel like the longterm home even if he could choose to be serviceable there with more focus and keeping the body where it is.

12:13
Kiley McDaniel: Also, I mentioned this last week, but we’ll be updating his present hit/power grades now, since I’m not sure anyone thought he’d be doing this well right now in a first look at Double-A with not exactly warm weather. And I confirmed that he’s hit three balls 117 mph this year so that’s pretty good.

Bichette vaulted up prospect rankings boards after a big showing in two A-ball leagues in 2017. He opened the current season at Double-A, where he carries a .279/.353/.421 slash with one home run and nine steals.

Though he is not quite as celebrated as teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is also the son of a long-time big leaguer, Bichette entered the year as a consensus top-20 prospect leaguewide. There’s some question whether Bichette will stick at shortstop, he carries the promise of delivering some defensive value along with an intriguing bat.

As always, you can find up-to-date MLB representation information at MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Gregg (513): Vlad Jr - is it too early to call him a generational talent ?

J.J. Cooper: He's special. He's an awesome prospect. It depends on your definition of "generational talent." Mike Trout is one of the greatest players in baseball history and he was a prospect during this decade. They are of the same generation, so from that aspect, it's hard to say he's a "once in a generation" type player. And as much as I love Guerrero as a prospect, he'll play in the big leagues at the same time as Miguel Cabrera, so there's some generational overlap there too. But I could also say he's as advanced a 19-year-old hitter as we've seen in this generation, so I could make the argument that such a qualifier makes him a generational talent.

psw (long beach, ca.): How long do you think Vlad jr. will stay at double a

J.J. Cooper: The argument for keeping him in Double-A is to let him continue to work on his glove. As a hitter, Double-A isn't challenging enough. Triple-A probably wouldn't be either. And I think MLB pitching would be challenging but not too much for him right now. I do think he'd struggle if you had him face the NL All-Star pitching staff right now.

Andrew (Alberta (Canada)): With Kevin Smith's hot start to the season, has he surpassed Warmoth on the Jays depth chart? Or is it too early for that? Thanks

J.J. Cooper: That's a fascinating question. He hasn't surpassed him on the depth chart yet as the reason he's overmatching LoA pitchers is because Warmoth is in HiA blocking that spot. As good as Smith's year is, and it's been outstanding, he should be too good for that league. But his success is likely to get the Blue Jays thinking about working some sort of job-sharing arrangement in Dunedin before too long, maybe play both at 2B a little too and some DH. Warmoth isn't ready for Double-A (and Bo Bichette is there), but Smith is more than ready for HiA.

AA (FL): Any concern about Bo Bichette's lack of power? Seems to be going through a slow stretch recently, but hasn't hit a HR all year. Any changes to his approach or just small sample size? Thanks!

J.J. Cooper: He's been going through a slow stretch, but he's a 20 year old in Double-A adjusting to a new level. I'm not worried.